Marathon Monday at PMO as Modi reshapes Covid vaccine, Bengal strategy
The PM’s meeting was one among several that he took throughout the day, covering critical issues of health infrastructure and the assembly elections in West Bengal, as per the officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held several crucial marathon meetings on Monday, including one with health officials on vaccination, after which he gave the green signal to open up India’s coronavirus vaccination drive to all adults – making it one of the most liberalised such drives anywhere in the world.

The PM’s meeting was one among several that he took throughout the day, covering critical issues of health infrastructure and the assembly elections in West Bengal, according to officials aware of the matter.
The PM called a number of chief ministers to discuss the vaccination programme in light of the Covid-19 situation, one of these persons said.
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Following this, Modi, who is observing the Navratra fast, held a crucial meeting with the brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party to review the election campaign and chart the future course for the party in a keen contest against Trinamool Congress.
With parties being criticised for holding massive rallies in the eastern state despite rampaging virus, PM Modi decided that BJP rallies will have only 500 people with all Covid protocols being rigorously followed, including mandatory masking and social distancing.
In the evening, PM Modi held a comprehensive meeting with top doctors from across the country to discuss the Covid-19 outbreak and later another with key pharmaceutical companies to discuss and review the status of health care infrastructure, oxygen supply and availability of critical medicines like Remdesivir through the country, the people quoted above said.
ABOUT THE AUTHORShishir GuptaAuthor of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (2011, Hachette) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (2014, Hachette). Awarded K Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and the 2011 Ben Gurion Prize by Israel.Read More

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